Dr Danes
by aussieaddict
Summary: Lorelai is sick, Dr Danes makes a housecall. Set during season 3 no particular episode
1. Chapter 1

Lorelai Gilmore was never a morning person, even on a good day, but this morning was different, even with her curtains shut she felt the cracks of sunlight filtering through them like lasers searing through her eyelids and making her temples ache, the sound of a passing car was like a stream train screaming into one ear, through her brain and continuing out the other. Her throat was like sandpaper when she swallowed and her nose felt simultaneously blocked and runny. She rolled over to look at her alarm clock, squinting against the light that rushed her pupils as she opened her eyes. 7:47, 'Great' she thought to herself, 'I'm supposed to be at the inn in 13 minutes'. She silently cursed her alarm for not going off, then shutting her eyes tightly she took a moment before willing herself to get up. Swinging her legs off the bed and standing in one swift motion, it was a moment or two before she realized that she would not be going to work today. Rory had already left for school, she had an early meeting at school and had had the presence of mind not to wake her mother before leaving.

Her head felt like it weighed a ton, and she couldn't seem to get her balance, her knees buckled and she fell, thankfully back into her bed. Keeping her eyes shut she fumbled around on her bed-side table, knocking a bottle of water and sending her lip gloss clear across the room, she finally located the phone and from memory dialed the familiar number, her face contorted into a pained grimace.

'Independence Inn, Michel speaking' came the familiar voice, it sounded to Lorelai like it was coming from inside her head.

'Michel' she rasped, then coughed, trying to clear her throat. It didn't help. 'I won't be coming in today, sick' was all she could manage, her hand finding its way to her forehead she felt herself burning up, despite the chill she was feeling.

'I am sorry sir, but who ever you are we do not require your services, I suggest you try…'

Lorelai cut him off 'Cut it Michel, it's me Lorelai, your boss, the one that signs your paychecks and is responsible for your job security, a rare commodity in these volatile times. Need I remind you there are obnoxious Europeans lined up around the corner that would die for the chance to do your job; being rude to customers and annoying the crap out of me, perhaps in an Italian accent rather than French, but you know it's all the same to us ignorant Americans, so unless you want me to call Giuseppe and let him know the job is all his, do me a favor and let Sookie know I won't be in today'

'But of course' Michel replied 'Get well' he added sweetly, hanging up the phone and glaring at it before leaving to the kitchen to inform Sookie of the news

Lorelai immediately regretted her decision to attempt a rant at Michel, not because he would be hurt or offended but because it had sapped her last ounce of strength and she would now need to take a break before making the next phone call. So after lying, unable to move for about 15 minutes she dialed the other familiar number.

'Luke's diner' thank god he had picked up, she didn't think she could waste more energy explaining to Cesar that she needed to speak to Luke.

'Luke' She mumbled 'Trains in my ears, bricks in my head, sandpaper in my throat…' she trailed off

'Lorelai? Is that you?' He was finding it difficult to identify the voice given its rasping quality, but the incoherent mumbling he could recognize from a mile away

'It hurts' She whined

'What hurts?' He asked patiently, he wasn't too worried Lorelai was a nothing if not prone to exaggeration; she probably just had the flu.

'Everything' she managed before breaking into a coughing fit.

'Ok, I'll be right over, don't move' Luke hung up the phone.

'Wasn't planning on it' Lorelai mumbled to no one in particular, before letting her arm, that had been cradling the phone, collapse back onto the bed

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The turning of the handle of the front door and the gradual creaking as it opened pulled Lorelai from her semi-conscious semi-comatose state and dragged her back to reality – painfully.

'Lorelai?' came the expected voice

'Shhhhhhhh' she groaned as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. 'Were the steps always this loud?' she thought to herself 'Mental Note; Ask Luke to make stairs quieter – somehow'

As Luke approached the bedroom door he was shocked to see just how bad she was looking and felt slightly guilty that he hadn't gotten here faster. He was at her bedside in an instant feeling her forehead, checking her temperature. His hand felt pleasantly cool to Lorelai's burning skin and she opened her eyes slightly, trying to smile but managing only a grimace.

'Hey' She mumbled

'Hey' he replied softly 'What seems to be the problem?'

'My head hurts, my ears hurt, my throat hurts, my nose is all stuffy, I'm hot and I'm cold at the same time don't feel well, and my throat KILLS when I swallow' As she told Luke her list of symptoms she began to be aware of just how sick she was, it all suddenly hit her and before she knew what was happening her lip began to quiver and tears began involuntarily running down her cheeks. She was not normally one to cry and somewhere inside her non-sick self was shocked at the open display of emotion, but her sick self was feeling tired and weak and wanted someone to look after her

Luke jumped straight into action, caught slightly off guard by the sudden tears 'Okay, your sheets are soaked and so are you' he said, running his hand over her sheets and once again, across her forehead, 'which means you're also probably very dehydrated, so why don't we get you showered and into clean clothes, then I'll change the sheets and get you some water' He began easing her off the bed until she was in a sitting position

Lorelai was grateful for any sort of plan that didn't involve lying still and wallowing in her sickness and discomfort, and allowed her full weight to lean on Luke as he brought her up toward him. She looked at him, touched at the concern in his eyes 'Hey' she said again, this time having been brought back to reality enough to actually see him

'Hey' he replied again, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, it was an extremely tender gesture, uncharacteristic of both Luke and he and Lorelai's friendship, he frowned slightly, wondering if it had put her off but she seemed to be gazing at him through a haze of sickness and he figured she probably wasn't overly concerned about the unofficial boundaries they had put up between them at that point.

They sat like that for the briefest of moments, until Luke noticed Lorelai's eyes begin to fade away as the strength it took even to hold her head up began to take its toll, her head dropping to his shoulder.

'Ok, so maybe the shower's not going to happen right now, why don't we at least change your pajamas and I'll get you that water'

Laying her down carefully on the bed, Luke went to the drawer where he guessed Lorelai kept her pajamas, he selected a pair of cotton boxers and a white tank not wanting her to be too hot. Pretending he didn't see the more suggestive items in the drawer he returned to her on the bed. Lifting her into a half-sitting position again he let her rest on him while he carefully began to slide her t-shirt upwards.

Doing his best to convince himself that seeing Lorelai topless would not phase him at all he took a deep breath and steadied his thoughts, making himself concentrate on how sick Lorelai was, rather than how naked she was about to be.

'Up' he said gently, indicating that she needed to lift her arms so he could get her t-shirt off. With what felt like a superhuman effort, she succeeded in raising her arms slightly, allowing Luke to peel off her shirt. Lorelai wasn't the type of person to get embarrassed by nudity, but all the same she was not relishing the notion of being half naked in bed with Luke under these circumstances. 'And what circumstances would you rather?' she vaguely thought to herself.

For his part, anything remotely sexual was the furthest thing from Luke's mind as Lorelai collapsed back into him before he could replace her t-shirt with the singlet he had brought her. He allowed her to lean on him for a few minutes, rubbing small circles at the small of her bare back, waiting for her to regain enough strength so he could redress her. It all felt disconcertingly comfortable to Luke, Lorelai half nude in his arms, stroking her bare skin and inhaling her scent as she leaned into him. Lorelai, safely back behind her sickness haze was only vaguely aware of how comforting this position was, she hadn't been held by a man this way for longer than she cared to admit, and Luke smelled like a nice mixture of baby powder (why did Luke smell like baby powder?) and the diner.

As she sat, her head in the crook of his neck her mind was swimming with visions of Luke and how wonderful he was to her. She wondered vaguely if he knew how grateful she was to him, under all the banter and teasing he knew how much she loved meant to him right? She realized he probably didn't, because she hadn't told him. She resolved to tell him when it was slightly more appropriate, that is when she wasn't half conscious and could explain to him clearly and concisely exactly how grateful she was for his help around the house, with Rory and mostly with the coffee. Well clarity and conciseness had never been her strong point but she would try her best to get the point across with a minimum of sarcasm and inane pop culture references. After making the resolution her head her mind began to drift off behind the haze. Luke gently he pushed her away, just enough so that he could roll the singlet over her head, gently bringing her arms through the holes and letting her fall back against the wall of pillows he had laid against her headboard. Next he gingerly untied the waste band of the sweat pants she was wearing and replaced them with the cotton shorts.

Her legs were amazing, long, lean and he had no idea how considering her stance on exercise and her ridiculously unhealthy diet, he let his mind wander for a moment as he took in the full length of her legs. He felt slightly guilty that he was having impure thoughts as she lay there so sick and helpless, and he chastised himself for having them at all, Lorelai was beautiful, any man could see that, but she was so much more and that's what a lot of the others didn't see. That's what made him different, that's why he had been in her life for 6 years, while the others had come and gone. He managed to tear his eyes away from her thighs and up to her face

'You feeling a little more comfortable now?' He asked

'Mm-hm'

'Okay, we have to let some air in here, I'll just open the window a bit, then go downstairs and get you some water'

He knew she was sick when she didn't even complain about the light that came flooding in when he opened the curtains, he closed them slightly back over the open window then went downstairs.

When he returned to her bedroom he could not help but take a moment to look at Lorelai, asleep on the bed, hair falling slightly onto her face. She looked sick all right, her face was paler than usual and her forehead was coated with a thin layer of perspiration, her breathing was slightly labored and she did not look as at peace, her brow slightly furrowed and her body restless. He saw that a draught was beginning to come through the open window, blowing her hair slightly and he went to shut it, the noise waking her in the process.

Despite the fact that she was sweating she began to shiver as she murmured 'I'm cold'

He went to her drawer of sweat shirts, looking for something for her to wear when he saw a familiar plaid shirt stuffed between her Harvard sweat shirt a hideous Christmas-themed knitted sweater he had never seen before.

'Hey! I've been looking for this' he protested, 'How did you get it?'

'Mm…you left it here one day' she sat up slightly reaching her arms out for it 'I meant to give it back to you but then it was laundry day and I had nothing else to wear and it looked so comfortable so I put it on'… she trailed off and he continued looking at her expectantly

'…and well let's just say I can see why you practically live in those shirts because honestly, it's like being able to wear your pyjamas in public!' She coughed, softly at first but gradually her fit turned violent and she was bent over, clutching the flannel shirt to her chest and trying to control to violent spasms racking her body.

Once she calmed down she managed a smile as she slipped the shirt on, wrapping herself in it. She shook her head stubbornly when he held the glass of water out to her

'It hurts when I swallow' she protested

'I know, you've probably got a throat infection, tonsillitis or something, but if you don't drink fluids you won't get better, then you'll never get out of bed, and then I will ring your mother and tell her you're sick, and she will come over and you'll be too sick to defend yourself against her tirade that will probably be about how it's your fault you got sick because you don't eat enough vegetables, and you drink too much coffee, and you eat too many pop tarts and –'

'Hey! My mother doesn't even know what a pop-tart is, let alone that I eat too many of them, you were just lecturing me indirectly, through my mother, who you a crap job of impersonating by the way, and I know this is all my fault, the pop tarts, the coffee, the twinkies and the rest of the buttery-chocolatey goodness that is my life, but I always eat that stuff, and I never get sick'

Her power-nap seemed to have revived her somewhat and she grudgingly took the glass from Luke, though it seemed impossibly heavy she took a few sips, wincing at the feeling in her throat when she swallowed, then held the glass back out to him, he seemed satisfied, placed it beside her bed and began smoothing the bedclothes, trying to make sure Lorelai was comfortable.

She was about to tell him to stop fussing, that she was fine, when suddenly she did not feel so fine. She felt her stomach arguing with the water she had just drunk, telling it to evacuate. The water was being stubborn for a minute, it didn't want to go, but her stomach was pretty adamant, if the water didn't want to go her stomach was going to force it.

'Luke, bucket!' She gestured urgently to the trash-can under her dressing table. Luke was on it, and just in time the bin was underneath her as Lorelai bent over the side of her bed. Luke held the bucket with one hand and Lorelai's hair (clumsily) in the other. When the water was all back up she continued retching for a while, wanting desperately for something, anything to come out of her to satisfy her abdominal muscles which were in spasms. This was not fun, not fun at all, she couldn't understand why she was still throwing up, there was nothing left inside her, but she continued to heave, her stomach muscles contracting painfully. She finally leant back, spent, tears running down her face from sheer frustration, ribs and head aching from the pressure. Torn between comforting her and wanting to dispose of the contents of the bucket Luke eventually decided to rinse out the bucket in case she needed it again.

While he was in the bathroom, Lorelai was lying down, feeling sorry for herself. She did not often get sick and hated it when she did, being such an independent person most of the time she found it difficult to rely on anyone so completely as she was right then. If things got bad enough Mia had been there while Rory was growing up, and as Rory got older she was able to take care of Lorelai herself, but the thought of relying on a boyfriend when she was sick was a foreign concept. 'Hang on a second? Had she just called Luke her boyfriend, no, she meant boy-friend, a friend who was a boy. Surely…' she thought to herself. She had surprised herself by calling Luke that morning, it had been a natural instinct and that it seemed so natural was what was so surprising. She hadn't worried that he would see her at her worst, she hadn't worried that she would be being a burden, she realized she had an implicit trust in Luke that went further than even she realized.

Luke returning from the bathroom, gave Lorelai a sympathetic look, sat down next to her and placed the newly cleaned bucket on the floor next to the bed.

'How you doing there?' he asked earnestly

'I'm tired… just wanna sleep' she replied, letting her eyes close

'Okay, buckets here if you need it, I'm just gonna call Cesar, tell him I need him to cover for me today' She didn't hear him, back in her fitful sleep Luke left her room to make the call, not wanting to disturb her.

When he returned she seemed to be sleeping more peacefully, Luke was glad, he didn't like seeing her this sick, not that he was scared there was something seriously wrong, he just didn't like to see her suffering. She was normally so alive, so full of energy, it was especially difficult to see her so subdued. After watching her for a while, his mind wandering, he moved around the other side of the bed, and careful not to wake her, took off his shoes and sat down in the armchair next to her bed. Picking up one of the trashy magazines on her nightstand he settled in.

About an hour later he hears Lorelai begin to toss and turn, she threw the covers off herself in her sleep and muttered something about being hot. She continued to toss restlessly for a while before pulling off his flannel shirt and her shorts in a frustrated state of semi consciousness before collapsing back into the bed. After that she seemed to sleep a little better again and Luke went back to focusing on the Ashton and Demi scandal.

'The tabloids can be so harsh, so what if she has a boy toy, let the girl have her fun! I mean I should be so lucky as to score someone like that in a few years' Luke hadn't even noticed Lorelai had woken up, being too engrossed in trying to figure out which Olsen twin it was that had the eating disorder

'What? Hey, how you feeling?' he asked turning toward her, eyebrows raised in a question

'Pretty crappy, but relative to this morning just dandy.'

It was almost one o'clock and Lorelai had slept for a good 3 hours, she seemed to be feeling a little better, judging by her gentle teasing, but she still sounded like a 70 year smoke suffering from emphezema, some colour had come back to her cheeks but her temperature was still higher than Luke would have liked.

'You hungry?' he asked, when her latest coughing fit had subsided

'No, and even if I was I wouldn't eat because throwing up is so not fun and if I don't put anything down there, then nothing can try to come back up'

'It won't matter if you eat anything or not, you're throwing up is triggered by the mucus which is making its way into your stomach every time you swallow, your stomach is rejecting the mucus by throwing it up, and it just so happens that everything you have eaten or drunk comes back up with it'

'Well, as informative and charming as that explanation of my bodily function was Dr. Danes, I still don't want to eat anything, because, as I said, I'm not hungry'

'You have to eat and drink, to give your body the energy to fight off the infection.' He put his hand up, to stop her from interjecting 'And I don't want to hear any whining, don't want to see any pouty faces or hair flipping, you will eat and you will drink and that is the end of it'

'I didn't know the hair flipping thing worked with you? I thought you were impervious to my devilish charm' She asked, clearly fishing for compliments

He let her have this one, mostly because she was sick and he felt bad for her

'You'd be surprised how persuasive you can be, even when you're sick… ' She smiled, but he continued with a smirk 'Especially when you're lying in bed with nothing but a little tank top on.'

She flushed, she hadn't realized she had practically undressed herself in her sleep. She recovered quickly, and muttering the word 'Dirty' under her breath. He rolled his eyes before going downstairs to fix them something to eat.


	2. Alarm Clocks and Superheros

Thanks for the reviews guys... I'm new to this game so it helps to know if I'm on track, off track, nowhere near the track etc...

As Luke descended the stairs to her kitchen, he realized there was probably not a lot in there that would lend itself to a meal nutritious enough to do the sick Lorelai any good. He shuddered to think what he might find in there; pop tarts, definitely pop tarts – and beyond that it was anyone's guess. He took a deep breath before opening the refrigerator door. He exhaled defeated as he took in the contents of her fridge, realizing he was going to have to go to Doosie's to buy some food he called out to let her know he was going.

'Be back in 15 minutes' he called

Lorelai didn't answer, figuring it would strain her throat too much to try to project her voice that far. Instead she pulled Luke's flannel shirt back on and flipped the television on. Though not being the least bit interested in cooking herself, nor displaying the least bit of talent for anything culinary she did take a lot of pleasure in the cooking channel, finding it soothing she would often turn it on at night to lull herself to sleep in much the same way as Rory would read one of her mor dense history books.

Being left alone with her thoughts once more she began once again to realize just how sick she was, when Luke was around she was too distracted to notice, but now that she was on her own the full force of the illness seemed to hit her. She settled down into the pillows behind her watching as some British chef cooked up some sort of trifle. She silently prayed for Luke to return, to distract her from her pain. But also… just to have him around, it was nice to have someone to do things for her, she was so used to being independent. She hoped she wouldn't get too used to it

Luke returned about 20 minutes later, a brown paper bag under one arm and a book under the other.

'You're late' she said in an accusatory tone as he came into the bedroom, having deposited the groceries into the kitchen

'I'm not late, we didn't have an appointment' he pointed out

'Yes but you said you'd be back in 15 minutes, that was at 1:43 it is now 2:03' she motioned to her Hello Kitty alarm clock, indeed Hello Kitty's arms were very awkwardly indicating that the time was indeed 2:03.

'I'm impressed that you can even tell the time on that clock' he mumbled 'there aren't even any numbers on it'

'I know, that's why I have an digital alarm clock behind it' Sure enough as Luke glanced past the red and pink retro clock he saw a conventional bedside alarm clock, 2:04 in square green numbers

'Why do you have two alarm clocks?' He asked, regretting the question as soon as it had passed his lips

'Uh, because I can only tell the time on one' she said as if it were the most obvious answer in the world

'Then why not keep the one you can actually read?' He asked, again berating himself for being sucked into this conversation that was clearly going to either confuse him or frustrate him

'Because Luke Hello Kitty is like the all time classic cartoon character, even better than Betty Boop – and that is saying something my friend! Anyway so this is the first real birthday present that Rory ever bought me, when she was like 12 or something -before that it was all weird finger paintings and creepy egg-carton men – and I mean it's really cute and kitschy but not so practical. For a whole year it buzzed every day at 11:53 – couldn't figure out how to turn it off. So anyway, Hello Kitty is for decorational purposes and the other one is so that I know just how late I'm running in the morning'

Luke looked at her skeptically, raised an eyebrow and let out a 'Right'

'Don't give me that face! The Lorelai-is-so-crazy-she-has-two-alarm-clocks-and-three-toothbrushes-what-a-freak face!'

'You have three toothbru – never mind' he put his hands up in mock defeat, not wanting to hear the explanation for that one just now. 'I'm gonna go downstairs and cook us some lunch' he got up from the bed and headed toward the door

'No!'

'No?' he spun around, questioning her with his eyes

'No, when you're gone it hurts!'

Luke was confused, it hurt her when he wasn't around? Was this some strange love confession?

Lorelai realized what she had just insinuated and got flustered

'I mean, when you're gone I feel sicker… like my head and my throat and the wheezing and the coughing and… well what if I throw up again? Who will hold my hair because I mean that's what girlfriends are for, but since Sookie isn't here right now you've been doing a good job in that department, and well you know you're just good at keeping me distracted from the sickness and… why don't I just come down with you to the kitchen and keep you company while you cook?' She finished hopefully

An amused look came over him 'Ok sure, did you want to put some pants on at some stage?'

Lorelai looked down for the second time in an hour to realize that she was still only half clothed, having replaced Luke's flannel shirt she hadn't bothered to pull the shorts back on. She couldn't let him see how embarrassed she was, so she decided to torture him a little

'No, I'm kind of happy just like this' she looked at him directly in the eye

He couldn't hold her gaze, frightened that if he did she would see into his thoughts, he struggled to get Lorelai's long, bare legs out of his mind but it was difficult as she pulled them one by one out from under the covers. But seeing how she struggled even with this simple task made him realize how weak she must be and remember how sick she still was.

'Well if you don't want to put pants on you should at least put something on your feet, it's bad to walk around barefoot when you're sick'

'Fine, pass me my boots' She gestured to the corner where she had thrown her knee high ugg boots after kicking them off the previous night.

'Geez, how many sheep d'ya kill to make these?' he asked, obediently retrieving the uggs and placing them next to the bed

'Um Luke you don't actually have to kill a sheep to get it's wool, they just shear it off. And be careful about what you say about my boots, these are authentic, 100 real original Australian Uggs. I bought them on ebay' She looked at them fondly

He helped her to sit up and put her boots on, she stood up and leaned on him a bit for support. But he wasn't so stable himself, seeing Lorelai in a pair of white underwear, a tiny singlet, his oversized flannel hanging off her shoulders and nothing on her bottom half apart from a pair of woolly boots was a little much for him to handle and he bucked at the knees slightly before regaining his composure and wrapping an arm around Lorelai's waste to steady her.

Lorelai looked down, and though she was mildly embarrassed she was surprised at how comfortable she felt being bottomless around Like, even more so she was surprised at how well Luke was handling her partial nudity, he was usually so insistent on the platonic boundary between them. Either he really liked the way she looked half naked, so much so that he didn't want her to get dressed, or he was so far from being remotely interested in her in that way that he didn't even care if he saw it. Deep down she hoped it was the first reason.

Though Lorelai had been managing to keep up their banter all morning her body was clearly having trouble keeping up with her brain and her mouth, and try as she did she didn't think she would be able to make it down to the kitchen on her own. Shuffling along, the majority of her weight on Luke it took them a full 40 seconds to cross the few metres from Lorelai's bed to her bed room door. She leaned against the doorframe her head spinning from the exertion.

'That should not have been that difficult' she grimaced 'It's going to be dinner time before I get downstairs at this rate… unless of course you want to carry me?' She looked up at him with that suggestion a sly grin forming across her lips and spreading up to her eyes, daring him to take her seriously

Luke was aware that normally such a suggestion would normally have solicited an 'ah jeez' and an awkward look, but for some reason he simply shrugged and went to pick her up.

Lorelai backed away at the sudden movement

'What? Do you want me to carry you or not'

'Uh…' she stammered 'sh… sure. I was sort of joking but… you could actually carry me down the stairs? I mean I have trouble carrying the laundry hamper up and down the stairs…' she looked up at him quizzically

'Sure. You're not that heavy…somehow'

'What's that supposed to mean?' She asked indignantly

'It means that with the amount of crap you put in your body and the amount of exercise you _don't _do it's a wonder that you're not 300 pounds!'

'Yeah yeah I've heard that before, I have a fast metabolism ok?'

'Sure' he said again going to pick her up.

With a moderate effort he had lifted her up and placed her over his shoulder, this was definitely the easiest way to carry someone around, but considering that Lorelai wasn't wearing any pants it was also not the most comfortable, for Lorelai all the blood rushed to her head, making her temples throb and her ears ache, for Luke he was faced with Lorelai's underwear mere inches from his left cheek.

'Yeah… that's not gonna work' she giggled 'Plus… all the mucus is rushing to my brain, making me feel funny'

Luke who had put up with a lot of awkward situations today with minimal fuss finally cracked, wincing from embarrassment he brought her around to his front, one arm supporting her back and the other under her bent knees. Out of instinct she slung her arms around Luke's neck

'Better?' he asked her

She looked up at him; 'Much'

It came out as an almost whisper and as their eyes locked something passed between them. But Luke, though strong was not a superhero and he knew that if he didn't head down the stairs he would probably drop her half way to the kitchen. Reluctantly he broke their gaze and began carefully picking his way down the stairs, mindful not to bump her head on the way down.

'My hero' she tried to quip as he settled her on the couch downstairs, but it didn't come out as sarcastic as she would have liked and the seriousness of the sentiment was obvious to both of them.

Just as things were about to get awkward the phone began to ring. Luke grabbed it handing it to Lorelai and disappearing into the kitchen to prepare some food.

'Hello?' she croaked

'Mom?' came the response

'Yeah, it's me, I'm just a bit sick…hence the Louis Armstrong thing I've got going on'

'Oh no! well I was just calling to tell you that I think I'm going to have to go to Paris' tonight to work on a paper, but I'll come home straight from school, you sound bad!'

'No, don't do that! I'm fine… well not really I'm actually extremely ill but Luke is here taking care of me so don't worry about me, go to Paris' have fun. Well maybe fun isn't the right word when it comes to Paris but you know be productive and… uh when will you be home?'

'Luke is there huh?' Lorelai could tell by her daughter's tone that her eyebrows were raised

'Yes he's here.' She wasn't giving anything away. And I have no pants on… she continued in her head, self consciously pulling down the flannel shirt to cover as much of her legs as she could.

'And…. Why is he there?' Rory wouldn't let up

'Because he's helping me with uh… stuff, taking care of… things, bringing the water and cleaning the buckets'

'Right of course, the stuff and the things and the water and the buckets…'

She scratched her head restlessly 'So, when did you say you'd be home?'

Rory didn't want to let it go but she knew she would get it out of her mother at some stage so she relented 'Umm I'm not sure I don't have the car so I was going to ask you to pick me up a little later but again – not sounding like the best idea right now. I'm sure I could spend the night at Paris', her parents are away so it's just her and her maid, she lives closer to school anyway so it actually makes quite a bit of sense'

'Rory I couldn't subject you to that! What will you do while Paris is off feeding on the souls of innocents?'

'No mom, really don't worry about it, I have a ton of work to do and it'll be easier that way. Paris has way mellowed out since she got a boyfriend, I think she just sucks his soul now, a real time saver since she doesn't need to spend as much time prowling and skulking, so she's got plenty of free time for relaxing activities such as Yoga and meditation that have made her a much more chilled out person.'

'Mm? You sure? Cos you know I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind coming to get you if you want to sleep at home'

'No, don't put him out like that, I'll be fine. I've got my cell if you need me, otherwise I'll just see you when I come home from school tomorrow afternoon.'

'Ok, have fun kiddo'

'I will mom, get better ok? Love you' She hung up and hurried off to class

Luke reappeared at the doorway, eyebrows raised

'Rory?'

'Yeah, she's going to stay at Paris' tonight, she needs to work on a paper'

'I can go get her later if she doesn't want to spend the night, I met that Paris once and I'm not sure she's entirely stable'

'She's not, and I already suggested that to Rory but she seemed quite happy to spend the night there'

'Ok if you're sure…'

'I'm sure. So… what you cooking? Burger? Chilli fries?' Her eyes lit up

'Yeah right, cos that's the way to get you to keep your food down, by feeding you greasy diner food'

'Hey, don't insult the greasy diner food. The greasy diner food is why I love you!' Damnit, another Freudian slip, she really was having a few of them today, oh well chalk it up to the sickness. She bit her lip and hoped he wouldn't notice

He didn't. 'I wouldn't insult diner food, diner food earns me my living. But diner food is not going to help you get better. I'm making you soup.'

'Ok' She wanted to complain to kick and scream and demand something ridiculously bad for her, but the truth was a bowl of hot soup was looking (and smelling) pretty good right now

Sorry it took so long to update, I had it all ready to go like a week ago but something wasn't working and it wouldn't let me upload the new chapter

Anyway I hope you like it...


	3. Soup and Movies

Hey, again, thanks for all the reviews

'Nice! Update Soon!' seems to be a popular one...

While I appreciate the feedback, i really wouldn't mind some constructive criticism, suggestions - anything a little bit more specific

Writing these characters unbelievably is hard

Anyway - enjoy!

While Luke was cutting some bread for them to have with their soup in the kitchen Lorelai had turned on the Television and begun idly flipping through the channels.

'Why is it that when you actually need for there to be something entertaining on tv there never is, but when step on the remote on your way out the door because you're late for work there is inevitably something unmissable on; like the episode of Oprah where Tom Cruise jumps up and down on the couch. I mean god! How can I not have seen that episode? I've seen outtakes and stuff on youtube but damnit I wanna see that in its entirety'

Luke came in carrying a tray with two bowls of soup with a cut up Baguette and two glasses of water, setting it down on the coffee table in front of the couch he turned to her

'Hm? What were you saying? I didn't catch any of that…'

She rolled her eyes 'Doesn't matter – wasn't important anyway' She shivered involuntarily.

Luke noticed 'You cold? I mean, cos I could go get you a blanket…' he gestured his hands in no particular direction as he didn't know where he would find a blanket

'Uh, yeah there should be one on Rory's bed, could you grab it?'

'Yeah, sure' He retrieved the throw from the end of Rory's bed, handing it to her he set about transferring all of the food off the tray and pulling the coffee table a little closer to the couch so that Lorelai could reach it without too much trouble. Meanwhile Lorelai arranged the blanket over her lap before carefully picking up a bowl of soup and resting it in her lap between her crossed legs while leaning back against the arm of the sofa. Luke awkwardly sat facing the television, still on but muted, his soup resting on his knees.

'Hey, make yourself comfortable' she said, tasting the soup

'I am comfortable' he insisted

'You don't look comfortable, you look awkward and _un_comfortable, come on, take off your shoes, sit back, relax! – Man this soup is amazing how did you do this?'

He set his soup down carefully, then as he took off his shoes he shrugged. 'I own a diner, I cook, it's what I do, I mean I'm not a _chef_ but hey, I am capable of more than just chilli fries and pancakes.

'I don't doubt it' she raised her spoon at him as he sat back, leaning back into the pillows a bit more

'So, how you feeling?' he asked, for lack of anything better to say

'Eugh, did you have to ask? I was doing ok not thinking about it, but if I have to take inventory well, headache is still there, scratchy throat still there but being helped by the soup, earache still there but better than before but general sicky-gross feeling definitely still present' She listed off on her fingers

'Well maybe a little less talking would do your throat some good' he pointed out

'Ah! Offended!' She raised a hand in the air 'Are you saying I talk too much?' she asked, feigning incredulity

'Basically yes, I mean you're sick, you can barely stand up, you're running a fever yet you can still manage to run that motor-mouth of yours a mile-a-minute – it's beyond me'

'Yes well my mystery is part of my allure' She tried her best to plaster a suggestive look on her face but an ill timed coughing fit ruined her plan and Luke smirked

'Okay, well if I can't talk then you will just have to do enough talking for the both of us'

He rolled his eyes, 'Yeah right'

'No, seriously, come on. I mean – tell me something I wouldn't know about you, tell me a story. Entertain me' she demanded

'I have no stories, you know everything there is to know about me'

'Oh that is so not true! You Luke Danes are a mystery a… mysterious mystery'

'Oh your vocabulary astounds me!'

'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit' she reminded him 'Okay, if I ask you questions will you at least answer them?'

'Depends on what they are' He shifted, slightly uncomfortable at the attention

'Okay, um what is your favourite colour?' She thought she'd start with an easy one as she put her soup down and settled herself further down against the arm of the sofa, her legs stretching out slightly so they were almost in Luke's lap

'Don't have one' he replied

'Oh come on, everyone has a favourite colour'

'What is the point? Why would I like one colour any more than the rest? I mean – what is your favourite colour?'

'Pink' she replied instantly

'Ok, so what is it about the colour pink that makes it so much better than say – yellow?'

Lorelai furrowed her brow 'I dunno… I just like how it looks'

'That's not an answer'

'Well fine, what is your favourite animal?'

'Ah geez Lorelai this game isn't fun, can't we just watch a movie or something?' He grimaced

'A movie, you're voluntarily suggesting a movie?' her mouth hung open as she questioned him

'Well it's gotta be better than trying to figure out if I'm a cat or a dog person'

'Definitely dogs… cats are so anti-social'

'Pick a movie' he ordered

'Nah, I've seen them all' she gestured to the cabinet that held her and Rory's DVD collection 'You choose'

Luke approached the haphazard piles of DVD's that were strewn across various shelves of one of the bookcase. 'Well I haven't seen any of these, which cancels out your having seen all of them, why don't you just choose?'

'Ummm… ok I will give you a shortlist and you can make the final decision'

'Okay'

This was possibly the hardest decision Lorelai had ever had to make, she thought to herself. The fact that she had way more important things to think about, like why she was half naked under Rory's blanket in front of Luke, was ignored as she scanned her mental movie catalogue. Meanwhile Luke continued to browse the selection of DVD's occasionally rolling his eyes at one like 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' or 'The Brady Bunch – The Collector's Edition'.

'Okay your first choice is…' Lorelai smiled widely at Luke '….are you sure you're ready for it?'

'I think I can handle it'

'Okay, your first choice is Kung Pow; a spoof of the dubbed films in the martial arts genre'

'You watched a martial arts movie? Jackie Chan whooping asses all over Hong Kong?' Luke furrowed his brow

'No, Luke, I watched a _spoof _of said movie, it's footage from an old Chinese movie that they've dubbed with English in funny voices, plus the main character has just inserted himself into the old footage and… bah I can't explain it but it's - hilarious' She emphasized the last word, looking up to the ceiling as if she was praising god.

Luke was skeptical 'What is my next choice?'

'Uhhh… ok, if martial arts is not you're thing we can watch… A League of Their Own – it's about baseball' She raised her eyebrows nodding as she smugly felt she had tricked Luke into watching one of the greatest chick flicks of all time.

Luke's attention was grabbed by the mention of sport, luckily for him, as she was speaking his gaze fell on the cover for the movie she was talking about. He saw Rosie O'Donnell in a cutesy women's baseball uniform and his eyes opened wide.

'Lorelai' he spoke warningly

'Yes Luke?' she asked, feigning innocence

'Is this the movie you want to watch?' he picked up the DVD showing her the cover

'No, I mean yes… I just thought you might like to watch a movie about baseball… I was being considerate of your interests'

'No, you were trying to con me into watching Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell chew gum and throw balls around'

'Hey, Geena Davis is in it too… She's kinda hot! Well she was in Thelma and Louise, not so much anymore… female Presidents may a good thing for this country – I mean yay Hilary and all that, but they are so not hot…'

He ignored her musings, knowing she was speaking more to herself than to him anyway

'Next?' He asked

'What? Oh movie – right. Your third, and might I add final choice is… Jerry McGuire – it's about a sports agent' she added helpfully

'Are you trying to trick me again? By sports agent do you mean ballet agent?'

'No, it's proper sports, men, football I think. Tom Cruise pre Katie and jumping on couches, Renee Zelwegger pre getting fat… and then thin… and then fat again'

'Okay, let's do that one'

'K, I can't be bothered to move, just put it in'

Luke looked at her, eyebrows raised

'Wha – oh! Dirty!' She flushed slightly but recovered quickly

'Luke Danes, calling _me_ out on a 'dirty' – well I never!' She said the last part in a terrible southern accent and he rolled his eyes and went to put the DVD into the machine.

Truth be told, Luke didn't think it was such a bad movie, and even though he would never confess it to anyone out loud, he had to admit to himself that the little blonde kid with the glasses was kinda cute… okay, okay, that kid was adorable. Lorelai stretched out onto the couch, her feet were in Luke's lap, she was comfortable, possibly a little too comfortable. Truth be told, she could get used to this, someone to look after her when she was sick, someone to hang out with… Rory wouldn't be around forever and she knew that having a man around the house would take some of the sting out of Rory leaving for college.

The thought of Rory leaving was making Lorelai feel nauseous… or was that the whole sick thing again. Yes, Lorelai was definitely starting to feel queasy again.

'Luke?' she sat up gently, trying not to move around too much lest she make herself feel even more ill than she already was

'Mm?' he didn't take his eyes off the screen

'I think I'm gonna…'

'Wha?' He looked at her quizzically, then seeing her normally glowing skin tinged with a definite shade of green realized what was needed and sprung off the couch 'Oh right' He was dashing around the living room, turning this way and that looking helplessly lost as he couldn't for the life of him see anything that would be appropriate as a receptacle for Lorelai's…. lunch.

'Kitchen' she gestured blindly, her eyes shut

'Right, kitchen' He stumbled into the kitchen, throwing open the cabinets looking for some sort of bowl, spying the bowl Lorelai usually reserved for popcorn on movie nights he grabbed it and returned to her side in time to hold back her hair and stroke her back. When he thought she had finished he went to take the bowl back to the kitchen, but she gripped it tightly

'Not done yet' she said mournfully, groaning inwardly and outwardly both at how sick she felt and how sick she thought she must look

'This is so gross' she lamented

'Lorelai, it's not 'gross', you are sick, it's just a part of life' Luke tried to act gruff, realizing that Lorelai was probably not entirely comfortable with the fact that he was seeing her like this, fixing her porch was one thing, disposing of waste product was a whole different ball game. Still Luke was determined not to be put off.

'Well, it is a gross and sucky part of life' she managed before she began spasming again.

When she had finished Luke told her to lie back down, absently removing the hair from her eyes before leaving to dispose of the contents of the bowl. He returned to her side with a damp towel which he dabbed on her forehead.

She let out a deep sigh that was bordering on a moan

'That feels nice, thank you' she mumbled, reaching up to his hand to guide the cloth down one side of her face, her neck, her collarbone… Luke snatched his hand back when he realized how quickly their hands had descended toward her chest. He looked into her eyes, she held his gaze, continuing to cool herself down with the cloth their eyes locked.

'You must be tired' he said, as she said 'We should finish the movie'

'Sure… the movie' he mumbled as she replied 'right yeah…'

So with that Luke rewound the movie to where it had been when Lorelai had started feeling sick, he returned to the couch, allowing Lorelai to make herself comfortable around him. He wasn't sure but he could have sworn that she was just a little bit closer to him, her legs placed more purposefully in his lap than before. Lorelai turned her attention back to the movie, trying not to think about the increasing tension at the back of her mind that she couldn't quite place. All Luke could think about was the damp cloth that had been abandoned on the coffee table…

As the movie credits rolled Luke looked over at Lorelai who was barely suppressing a grin

'Aw – I love the end of that movie'

'Me too' Luke replied

'Really?' Lorelai was surprised by Luke's openness to such a happy ending

'Yeah, it meant the movie was over' Luke looked pleased with himself

'Guess I walked straight into that one'

'Guess so' he replied smiling

Lorelai let out a yawn

'You should probably sleep, rest is the only way to get better' He went to get up from the couch

'You're going?' Lorelai was surprised by the level of alarm in her voice '…I mean, just cos I'm quite comfortable and I could just go to sleep now…here. It's ok you can go, you probably need to like check on the diner or something so you know… just… it's fine'

'No… I mean I don't have to… I mean I'm sure Caesar has it under control… unless you want me to…' he gestured toward the door letting his sentence drift off

'No, stay. I mean I'm probably just gonna doze but you know, you should hang around… we've got movies… and you bought food so there's some of that. And well ok I'm just gonna try and sleep' She yawned again and closed her eyes, squishing herself a little further down the couch

After about 4 seconds she opened one eye to regard Luke. 'Watcha gonna do while I sleep?'

'Uh… I could watch TV, I'm sure there's some sports on'

'You know how to use the remote?' she asked, one eye still shut

'I installed your TV Lorelai'

'Right…ok well goodnight' she shut her eye as Luke leaned over to retrieve the remote from the coffee table, trying his best not to disturb Lorelai, half of who's lower body was resting in his lap.

He flipped on the TV, locating the sports channel there was a game of baseball on, he half watched the game and half watched Lorelai who had fallen asleep soon after closing her eyes. Her breathing was laboured but other than that she appeared to be sleeping soundly. Luke let his mind reflect on the morning, being sick, he felt, had caused Lorelai to lower her guard ever so slightly. The fact that she had called him this morning, the admission that she needed him made him feel closer to her, and in return he had let his walls drop too, it was an almost imperceptible shift but the change was there none the less and he was enjoying their new dynamic.

He regarded her more closely, Luke had always known that Lorelai was beautiful, he was after all not blind. But he had seen her almost every day for 5 years and her physical attractiveness had been replaced by a warm familiarity that was no less beautiful but a whole lot more personal, every man could see her outward beauty, but one had to look carefully to really appreciate just how stunning she was, and few people looked more carefully than Luke. He was by nature an observer rather than a participant and he had spent countless hours watching her in the diner, interacting with her daughter, her friends, the town folk. And her beauty was more than how she looked it was who she was, her eyes were a piercing blue to anyone, but it was the sparkle behind them that gave them their true character, the sparkle that few people had memorized as Luke had.

He let his mind wander… to Lorelai's long legs as she had kicked off her shorts, to the feel of her arms around his neck when he had carried her down the stairs, to her delicate hands dabbing at her neck and chest with the damp cloth. Realising Lorelai's legs were in his lap he banished the thoughts from his mind, forcing himself to concentrate on the game.

Lorelai fidgeted a bit in her sleep and Luke instinctively touched a hand to her shoulder to calm her, she responded to his touch, settling herself back into the couch and letting out a contented sigh. Luke realized he was smiling fondly at her and quickly turned his attention back to the television, lest she wake up to him gazing at her like a love sick puppy. He shook his head as if that might rid his minds from thoughts of her.

He had managed to keep his eyes and mind off her for about an hour, watching the game and occasionally flicking to other channels to see what was on, when he felt her stirring.

She let out a yawn, stretching her arms

'I feel gross…. I need a shower. Help me upstairs?'

He looked over at her, struggling to sit up, and suddenly could not get the image of Lorelai naked in the shower out of his mind. Luke groaned inwardly… this was going to be difficult.


	4. Thimbles and Bankers

So... I've been a bad person and haven't written in a long time, but uni's been a bit stressful and business has had to take precedence over pressure

But since today is June 3rd I decided that instead of studying for my exam tomorrow i would post another chapter

Hope you enjoy it...

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Luke sat up quickly as Lorelai removed her legs from his lap, he had been sitting like that for too long, afraid to move her lest she wake up so his muscles were stiff and needed stretching out. Entwining his fingers he pushed his arms out first in front of him, then raising them above his head. His shirt lifted slightly and Lorelai caught a peak of the slightest patch of bronzed stomach. Her eyes opened wide for a second before she caught a hold of herself and shook her head , trying to erase the images that were rapidly forming in her head.

After he had stretched out a little more (Lorelai had to look away when he had taken his hands behind his back and pushed his chest forward) he went to pick her up in the same way he had brought her down the stairs.

'Whooooa there' Lorelai put her hands up defensively, pulling away from him a little

'What?' Luke looked a little confused

'Uh nothing. It's just…I think I can probably get upstairs on my own, feeking a bit better. Help me up though.' She held her hands out in front of her and Luke took them, pulling her to her feet and making sure she was steady before taking half a step back.

'I think I'll take a bath rather, I feel like a good soak'

She bit her lip and looked up at Luke, then at the same time they both nodded their heads and said 'Dirty'

Lorelai laughed, shaking her head slightly at Luke 'You really are learning'

She too had been in the same position for a good few hours and once she was stable she gingerly pulled her head down toward one shoulder than the other. Exposing her neck to Luke he fumbled with his hands in his pockets before saying

'Well uh… why don't I go run the bath for you? You can take you time and get whatever you need to change into… or whatever you could stay in that. It's fine too… Works for me… I mean if it works for you. So yeah…' he gestured silently toward the stairs before turning his head away from her awkwardly and then practically running up the stairs.

'Oh Luke?' Lorelai called, her voice still croaky

'Yeah?' he stopped halfway up the stairs but did not bother to look down at her

'Just by the tub is some bubble bath, could you toss some in'

Luke reddened, glad he had chosen not to look at her

'Uh sure' he replied uncertainly. She sounded innocent enough, no flirtatious tone behind her request as was often present, but as if the image of Lorelai in her bath tub were not hard enough for him to deal with, now he would have to know that she was in there, surrounded by soapy bubbles… lathering herself up and -

'Oh god' he let out a strangled mumble as he entered her bathroom.

Lorelai's bathroom was the source of all her smells, and walking in Luke immediately recognized the aroma as a more concentrated version of what Lorelai smelt like from day to day. As he gazed around at the various lotions and gels he was able to identify them; the vanilla of her body lotion, the raspberry of her shower gel and the hint of a gingery smell from her hair product, all combined to make the scent that was Lorelai. He inhaled deeply before realizing that was probably a little bit creepy.

He sighed and approached the tub, seeing the bubble bath sitting on the edge he picked it up, reading the label he shook his head. The hot pink bottle was clearly marketed for 6 year old girls, with Disney Princesses that seemed to be dancing around the label. Jasmine and Ariel smiled up at him from the bottle and he sighed once again. He turned the hot water, adding just a little cold, figuring Lorelai (knowing no moderation) would probably be one of those people who liked their baths scalding hot. Once he had it at the right temperature he put the plug in and squirted two capfuls (the bottle advised one but Luke again adjusted for Lorelai's tastse) of the pink liquid into the tub and watched as the water swirled around and around and the bubbles began to emerge. As he left the bathroom back into herbed room he came across Lorelai fishing through her underwear drawer.

He cleared his throat slightly to let her know he was there

'So I see you made it up the stairs'

'Yeah it took a little longer than usual but I'm feeling a lot better actually, though it was fun to have a super hero to carry me down' She smiled at him meaningfully and he reddened a bit

'It was nothing'

'It was something, this whole day has been, you've been really great. And while I would offer to reciprocate I'm afraid I just wouldn't be able to lift you' She pursed her lips in mock ruefulness

'Plus you could never have made me soup' He continued

'Well that's a given. So I'll tell you what, next time your sick, call me and I'll come over to watch you make your own soup and walk up your stairs by yourself'

'Well sure, cos that's pretty much reciprocation'

They smiled at each other for a second before Lorelai blinked

'Guh… so I'm gonna' she gestured toward the bathroom with her head

'Oh right, yeah well I'll just be around. Yell if you need anything… Not that you can yell right now… and not that you'd need anything from me, when you're… in the tub but…'

'Right' she gathered up her discarded shorts and headed for the bathroom

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She felt awkward stripping off knowing that Luke knew what she was doing. Sure she assumed he knew that she bathed, but the fact that at that very moment Luke knew that she was getting naked and… It was weird. Was he thinking about her? She shook the thoughts from her head and continued undressing

Luke stood looking at Lorelai's bed and decided to change the bed clothes, she would probably appreciate coming back to clean sheets after a bath and just as he was stripping off her fitted sheet he head a low moan coming from the bathroom. Lorelai had stepped into the tub and allowed herself to sink in to the perfectly heated water surrounded by the perfect amount of bubbles. Feeling her muscles relax into the warm water she could not help but let out an audible appreciation of her contentedness.

Luke gulped. Try as he might he couldn't get the picture of a naked Lorelai out of his mind, a naked Lorelai lying in the bath that he had just drawn for her. Yes, this was going to be a long day.

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Luke had remade Lorelai's bed and was just smoothing down the last corner when she emerged from the bathroom, toweling her hair off and sniffling. She smiled at him shyly when she noticed the clean sheets

'You didn't have to do that' she said

He turned to face her taking her all in. She had put the cotton shorts back on and replaced the small tank she had been wearing with an over sized Yale T-shirt. As he looked down at her feet and realized she was bare foot he frowned at her slightly.

'Haven't we had this discussion once already today? You need to put something on your feet. Where are your ebay boots?'

'They were making my feet hot and gross'

'Then put some socks on or something'

'Yes sir' she looked down at the ground feigning child-like obedience before shuffling sulkily over to her dresser and going back to her underwear drawer.

That drawer, Luke had had enough of that damn drawer today. He gulped for what felt like the fifth time in as many minutes as he realized he knew what underwear Lorelai was wearing. He should not know what underwear she was wearing, it was not something you knew about a friend. How they take their coffee? Yes. Their telephone number? Probably. But not what underwear they were wearing on any given day.

Lorelai sat on the newly made bed pulling on white socks that came mid way up her calves. Luke didn't think he'd ever seen her look so… sexy.

'Man I feel so much better after that. You sure know how to spoil a girl!'

'Well I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, do you wanna have another nap or something?'

'No, my body is a little tired but I don't think I could actually sleep, wanna watch another movie?' She asked, her voice betraying a hopefulness she hoped he would not notice

'Uhh no…' Her face fell in the split second before she could shift it back to nonchalance.

'I mean, you've gotta ease me into the movie thing you know. I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a double header yet. But, if you're tired maybe we could play a board game or something. I mean, do you know how to play chess?'

'Whoa whoa whoa. Okay there are a few things I need to say; First: double header – Dirty!' she grinned before continuing 'Second: I can't believe you're suggesting we play a board game. That is so Doctor Seuss of you! And third – I know you don't really think that Rory and I have would actually play chess? I mean we are big fans of board games, if I had a son I would name him Milton-Bradley but chess is so dull. I mean it's all black and white – literally colourless! And it doesn't make sense, why can the king only move one square at a time? He's the king he should be able to do what he wants, he should be like "Hey Knight! Get off your horse and give it to me so that I can run around in weird L-shaped moves or I'll… cut off your head!" And hey,' she continued undeterred by Luke's incredulous face '..it makes absolutely NO sense that castles would be able to move, they are inanimate objects, you can't just slide them along the ground! In fact the only thing that makes sense in that whole game is that the Queen is the coolest piece… If you think about it when a pawn gets to the other side and becomes a queen well that's kinda poetic it has a certain Cindarella type quality to it don't ya think?'

'Okay… so no chess' Luke breathed out, realizing he had been subconsciously holding his breath as she had ranted on

'No chess' she agreed, nodding her head once, firmly. 'But I'd put money on the fact that you would be inclined toward a game of Monopoly'

He raised his eyebrows at her 'Do I look like the monocle man or something?'

'No, but I mean I can totally imagine you as a little kid fighting with your sister over who got to be the thimble'

'No, I always let Liz be the thimble'

'But secretly it's all you ever wanted. Don't worry Luke' she placed one hand over her heart in mock seriousness 'I will let you be the thimble, I would do that for you'

'Well that is just the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me, so where do you want to play?'

He looked at Lorelai expectantly, but she was looking back at him with a funny expression on her face that he couldn't quite read.

'You really did always let your sister be the thimble' she said quietly

'What?' he was confused over her sudden seriousness

'I mean, it's just what you do, you let people be the thimble. To the point where Liz would never even know that you ever wanted to be the thimble. 25 years later and she has no idea that you were constantly sacrificing the _thimble _for her. She needs to know Luke, you should tell her that you wanted to be the thimble!' Her voice was getting louder as she spoke and she ended almost desperately. This was a familiar tone of voice coming from Lorelai, a tone of voice he hated to hear. She never yelled, she just sort of spoke desperately with a sort of pleading look in her eyes

'Lorelai, what's going on?' He was genuinely confused as to why Lorelai was getting so worked up over a game piece literally 5 seconds after she had been joking with him about chess

'You should have told me that you wanted to be the thimble' She had gone back to speaking quietly

He just looked at her, his eyes silently questioning

'I mean, it's not that we always have to be the thimble, it's just that we didn't realize that you wanted it. We didn't realize how much you were sacrificing and…'

'Lorelai'

'Yeah?' She looked up at him, her eyes glazed with tears

'I never wanted to be the thimble. Thimbles are for girls' He reasoned

'God Luke! It's not about the damn thimble!' She was back to her desperate voice, gesticulating wildly

'What do you mean it's not about the thimble? You've just spend the last 5 minutes talking about the thimble. I didn't want to be the thimble so it's fine'

'But that's what you do Luke, you let us do whatever we want. And so okay you didn't want to be the thimble, but I bet you let Liz be banker whenever she wanted'

'Yeah I did' he admitted 'Even though I knew that she stole money _every _time'

'So thimble or banker or whatever Luke, sometimes you just need to tell people what you want, you can't go around pleasing everybody all the time. If you want something you gotta learn to ask for it, you never know the person might not mind giving it to you!'

'Lorelai where is all this coming from?'

'Luke I called you this morning with what is essentially nothing worse than the flu, and you left your business and came running over'

'So? it's what you do when somebody needs you' He said matter of factedly

'No, it's what _you_ do when somebody needs you. Luke you are this amazing guy and you're always around when we need you. When _I _need you. And I just don't want you to think that I'm stealing money from the bank Luke, I don't want you to feel like you have to always give me what I want. I want to know what you want, you can't be too afraid to ask!'

'Lorelai, you're ranting! You're not making any sense! What are you trying to say?' Luke's confusion was heightening and he was starting to get a little anxious about how worked up Lorelai was becoming.

'I'm trying to say… That there may be times when you want to be the banker. And I don't want you to assume that I always have to be. If you want to be the banker sometimes Luke all you have to do is ask. But…' She was getting frustrated at her lack of ability to articulate the thoughts that were swimming about in her head. She realised she was coming across as more than a little left of centre. 'But… you have to ask. And even if I want to be the banker that day as well, you need to let me let you be the banker'

'Let you let me be the banker? Lorelai, this obviously isn't about bankers, or thimbles. What are you trying to say?'

'I'm just trying to say that if you want something you need to ask for it, and even if you don't think you're going to get it you need to fight. Don't let me walk all over you-'

Luke got a little defensive 'I do not let you walk all over me!'

'Luke, I want coffee you give a half assed protest but you'll serve me 3 cups in one morning, my porch is broken and you're over in the freezing cold fixing it. And… I mean what do I do for you? What_ can_ I do for you? We've already realised that if you got sick there is very little I would be able to do. I just think that this friendship is being dictated completely by me' Lorelai herself wasn't sure exactly what she was saying, but she very rarely thought too hard about what she was saying before it came out of her mouth, and suddenly she was realising how much Luke was willing to do for her and for some reason she couldn't explain it was making her a little angry.

'So what? You don't want me to fix your porch any more? You really want me to start withholding coffee?' He was starting to get as worked up as she was, mostly out of frustration

'No, I just want to know what you _want! _What I can do for you, something that I can bring to this friendship!'

Luke softened as Lorelai's insecurities began to show through

'Hey, you do plenty for me. Just by coming into the diner you make work bearable, you keep me company while I clean up at night, you listen to my rants, you educate me in the art of films. Lorelai… you're a great friend. I think that our friendship is fine, I'm not the easiest person to be friends with, and you put up with a lot from me. And really you let me be the banker a lot, without even realising it, in fact I feel like I've been the banker since we met ' He offered, thinking that he finally might have been starting to understand the analogy

'Really? So you don't think I'm stealing from the bank' She asked, her insecurities beginning to be placated

'I really don't think you're stealing from the bank' He confirmed

'Okay, so do you still wanna play Monopoly?' He seemed to have reassured her and her 'mood' was gone as fast as it had come. He was relieved

'….Not so much. But I _have_ reconsidered my former statement on the issue and would really love to continue my film education if you'd be so kind as to oblige…'

Lorelai pretended to consider Luke's offer for a second. 'Well…. I guess it wouldn't _kill _me to watch another movie...' She put her arms out in front of her like a little kid wanting to be picked up 'Carry me downstairs?'

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Well I hope you enjoyed it... the monopoly metaphor may have gone too far i can't be sure... let me know.


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